Saf’s problem exposed: lack of quality spinner

Perhaps Sehwag was fortunate that Australian umpire Simon Taufel didn’t award Justin Ontong his first Test wicket. It was a good shout, too. Bowlers will always tell you it was out; batsmen might differ in their opinion.

After that, Ontong lost it. Half-volleys and longhops, the general non-quality street toffee mix not only rearranged Ontong’s figures, it also largely took the game away from the tourists. They hadn’t done too badly until that stage as the restive audience built up during the afternoon and wanted strokeplay action.

An hour of similar strokeplay treatment from Sehwag on Day Three will create problems that South Africa have been trying to avoid for four-and-a-half sessions. That is to keep the defensive mode undisturbed.

There was talk that the pitch has deteriorated, but as Jennings pointed out Ontong is playing in only his second Test and is not a frontline spinner. Okay, so the kid has to start somewhere, and lacks form, as he didn’t get to bowl at all back in South Africa in the early stages of the first-class season. But that is the problem in South Africa and where their policy is all wrong.

You won’t catch the Australians offering similar excuses. They cannot become a top playing nation until they develop a top-class spinner.

The Safs will now also have to look into the crystal ball and work out a plan to counter India’s batsmen. It is a big day for India and the tourists; acts one, two and three are at Eden Gardens; act four is in the courtroom where judgement is expected on who will get the TV rights.

More important is that by act two, the South African will have to put together a bowling plan that will curb the impressive top order. Yet trying to restrict India — bowling to field placings and not on both sides of the wicket — might be tough. The theory of creating pressure through such tactics has its proponents. But it is the only tactic that South Africa have available to stop India from scoring at an avalanche pace.

One of the problems is that Kallis has ruled himself out of bowling in this Indian innings and that means Andrew Hall and Zander de Bruyn could find themselves brought into the attack in a bid to curb the scoring rate. Both gave sound demonstrations of being able to tie down batsmen in Kanpur. Eden Gardens though, has far more bounce and is likely to give the medium-paced swing, seam and cutters of the two bowlers a chance to restrict the Indians and build the pressure until they force the batsmen into errors. Yet most of the early thrust will come from Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini.

Part of South Africa’s plan — occupying the crease and eating up overs to try and reach 400 — fell well short. And whatever way we look at this policy it is all about delaying.

At least Kallis was brave enough to admit that he was fooled by the Sourav Ganguly delivery that bowled him while he failed to offer a stroke. ‘‘It was a good ball and I misjudged the swing,’’ he admitted at the way Dada fooled the best batsman in the South African side.

Now for the rest of the team to do to the Indians what Sourav did to Kallis.